The Adult Occupational Success of Dyslexic Boys: A Large Scale, Long-Term Follow Up.

Gottfredson, Linda S.; And Others

Several hundred men who were dyslexic as high school students, and for whom considerable early test data were available, were surveyed as adults. Subjects included alumni from 1940 through 1977 of the Gow School, a private secondary school for dyslexic boys. Their occupations were compared to those of a control group, the fathers of both groups, and to some extent, to the jobs of men in the general United States population. Data on social background, educational performance, degree level, and intelligence, as well as on severity of reading disability itself, allowed an assessment of the degree to which dyslexia affects a man's occupational success. Among the findings were: (1) the Gow men were quite successful on the average, more successful than the average man--over 80% had white collar jobs and over 60% were professionals or managers; (2) their jobs were not as high level on the average, however, as those of their fathers or of the control men; (3) when Gow men are professionals, they are rarely lawyers or physicians, the two professional jobs that are most common among both their fathers and the control men; (4) when Gow men are managers, they are more often vice presidents, or chief executive officers than are the control men; (5) Gow men obtain considerably less education than do the control men; (6) these differences in education are associated with much of the difference in occupations between the Gow and the control men; (7) dyslexia appears to influence educational level by affecting reading comprehension and grades obtained in school; and (8) much of the variation in educational performance and degree level among the Gow men themselves is not explained by dyslexia. (HOD)